Standard Johnson UBVRI photometry of V1794 Cyg (HD 199178) between 1975 and 1995 is analysed. Instead of the traditional constant period ephemeris, we determine the seasonal periodicities (P_phot_) and the primary and secondary minima epochs (t_min,1_, t_min,2_) of the normalized UBVRI magnitudes using the three stage period analysis (TSPA) and complementary methods.
Using new spectroscopic observations obtained as part of the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS), we performed a systematic search for overdense environments in the early universe (z>2) and report here on the discovery of Cl J0227-0421, a massive protocluster at z=3.29. This protocluster is characterized by both the large overdensity of spectroscopically confirmed members, delta_gal=10.5+/-2.8, and a significant overdensity in photometric redshift members. The halo mass of this protocluster is estimated by a variety of methods to be ~3x10^14^M_{sun}_ at z~3.3, which, evolved to z=0 results in a halo mass rivaling or exceeding that of the Coma cluster. The properties of 19 spectroscopically confirmed member galaxies are compared with a large sample of VUDS/VVDS galaxies in lower density field environments at similar redshifts. We find tentative evidence for an excess of redder, brighter, and more massive galaxies within the confines of the protocluster relative to the field population, which suggests that we may be observing the beginning of environmentally induced quenching. The properties of these galaxies are investigated, including a discussion of the brightest protocluster galaxy, which appears to be undergoing vigorous coeval nuclear and starburst activity. The remaining member galaxies appear to have characteristics that are largely similar to the field population. Though we find weaker evidence of the suppression of the median star formation rates among and differences in the stacked spectra of member galaxies with respect to the field, we defer any conclusions about these trends to future work with the ensemble of protostructures that are found in the full VUDS sample.
We report the discovery of 31 low-luminosity (-14.5>~M_AB_(B)>~-18.8), extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) at 0.2<~z<~0.9 identified by their unusually high rest-frame equivalent widths (100<=EW[OIII]<=1700{AA}) as part of the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). VIMOS optical spectra of unprecedented sensitivity (I_AB_~25mag) along with multiwavelength photometry and HST imaging are used to investigate spectrophotometric properties of this unique sample and to explore, for the first time, the very low stellar mass end (M_*_<~10^8^M_{sun}_) of the luminosity-metallicity (LZR) and mass-metallicity (MZR) relations at z<1. Characterized by their extreme compactness (R_50_<1kpc), low stellar mass and enhanced specific star formation rates (sSFR=SFR/M_*_~10^-9^-10^-7^yr^-1^), the VUDS EELGs are blue dwarf galaxies likely experiencing the first stages of a vigorous galaxy-wide starburst. Using Te-sensitive direct and strong-line methods, we find that VUDS EELGs are low-metallicity (7.5<~12+log(O/H)<~8.3) galaxies with high ionization conditions (log(q_ion_)>~8cm/s), including at least three EELGs showing HeII{lambda}4686{AA} emission and four extremely metal-poor (<~10% solar) galaxies. The LZR and MZR followed by VUDS EELGs show relatively large scatter, being broadly consistent with the extrapolation toward low luminosity and mass from previous studies at similar redshift. However, we find evidence that galaxies with younger and more vigorous star formation --as characterized by their larger EWs, ionization and sSFR-- tend to be more metal poor at a given stellar mass.
The star formation rate density (SFRD) evolution presents an area of great interest in the studies of galaxy evolution and reionization. The current constraints of SFRD at z>5 are based on the rest-frame UV luminosity functions with the data from photometric surveys. The VIMOS UltraDeep Survey (VUDS) was designed to observe galaxies at redshifts up to ~6 and opened a window for measuring SFRD at z>5 from a spectroscopic sample with a well-controlled selection function. We establish a robust statistical description of the star-forming galaxy population at the end of cosmic HI reionization (5.0<=z<=6.6) from a large sample of 49 galaxies with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts. We determine the rest-frame UV and Ly{alpha} luminosity functions and use them to calculate SFRD at the median redshift of our sample z=5.6. We selected a sample of galaxies at 5.0<=z_spec_<=6.6 from the VUDS. We cleaned our sample from low redshift interlopers using ancillary photometric data. We identified galaxies with Ly{alpha} either in absorption or in emission, at variance with most spectroscopic samples in the literature where Ly{alpha} emitters (LAE) dominate. We determined luminosity functions using the 1/V_max_ method. The galaxies in this redshift range exhibit a large range in their properties. A fraction of our sample shows strong Ly{alpha} emission, while another fraction shows Ly{alpha} in absorption. UV-continuum slopes vary with luminosity, with a large dispersion. We find that star-forming galaxies at these redshifts are distributed along the main sequence in the stellar mass vs. SFR plane, described with a slope {alpha}=0.85+/-0.05. We report a flat evolution of the specific SFR compared to lower redshift measurements. We find that the UV luminosity function is best reproduced by a double power law, while a fit with a Schechter function is only marginally inferior. The Ly{alpha} luminosity function is best fitted with a Schechter function. We derive a logSFRD_UV_(M_{sun}_/yr/Mpc^3^)=-1.45^+0.06^_-0.08_ and logSFRD_Ly{alpha}_(M_{sun}_/yr/Mpc^3^)=-1.40^+0.07^_-0.08_. The SFRD derived from the Ly{alpha} luminosity function is in excellent agreement with the UV-derived SFRD after correcting for IGM absorption.Conclusions. Our new SFRD measurements at a mean redshift of z=5.6 are ~0.2dex above the mean SFRD reported in Madau & Dickinson (2014ARA&A..52..415M), but in excellent agreement with results from Bouwens et al. (2015ApJ...803...34B). These measurements confirm the steep decline of the SFRD at z>2. The bright end of the Ly{alpha} luminosity function has a high number density, indicating a significant star formation activity concentrated in the brightest LAE at these redshifts. LAE with equivalent width EW>25{AA} contribute to about 75% of the total UV-derived SFRD. While our analysis favors low dust content in 5.0<z<6.6, uncertainties on the dust extinction correction and associated degeneracy in spectral fitting will remain an issue, when estimating the total SFRD until future surveys extending spectroscopy to the NIR rest-frame spectral domain, such as with JWST.
We quantify the temperature dependency of the VUV absorption cross section of carbon dioxide. The VUV absorption cross section of CO_2_ increases with the temperature. The absorption we measured at 150K seems to be close to the absorption of CO_2_ in the fundamental ground state. The absorption cross section can be separated in two parts: a continuum and a fine structure superimposed on the continuum. The variation of the continuum of absorption can be represented by the sum of three gaussian functions. We used these data in our 1D thermo-photochemical model in order to study their impact on the predicted atmospheric composition of warm exoplanets. Using data at high temperature in thermo-photochemical models modifies significantly the abundance and the photodissociation rates of many species, in addition to carbon dioxide, such as methane and ammonia. These deviations have an impact on synthetic transmission spectra, leading to variations of up to 5ppm.
We present the analysis of the faint galaxy population in the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Early Release Observation fields VV 29 (UGC 10214) and NGC 4676. These observations cover a total area of 26.3arcmin^2^ and have depths close to that of the Hubble Deep Fields in the deepest part of the VV 29 image, with 10{sigma} detection limits for point sources of 27.8, 27.6, and 27.2 AB magnitudes in the g_F475W_, V_F606W_, and I_F814W_ bands, respectively.
We use observations made with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to probe the neutral hydrogen (HI) gas content of field galaxies in the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) 14h field at z~=0.32. Because the HI emission from individual galaxies is too faint to detect at this redshift, we use an HI spectral stacking technique using the known optical positions and redshifts of the 165 galaxies in our sample to co-add their HI spectra and thus obtain the average HI mass of the galaxies. Stacked HI measurements of 165 galaxies show that >~95 per cent of the neutral gas is found in blue, star-forming galaxies. Among these galaxies, those having lower stellar mass are more gas rich than more massive ones. We apply a volume correction to our HI measurement to evaluate the HI gas density at z~=0.32 as {OMETA}_HI_=(0.50+/-0.18)x10^-3^ in units of the cosmic critical density. This value is in good agreement with previous results at z<0.4, suggesting no evolution in the neutral hydrogen gas density over the last ~4Gyr. However the z~=0.32 gas density is lower than that at z~5 by at least a factor of two.
We present the 5 sigma catalogue at 610MHz of the VVDS-VLA deep field obtained from GMRT observations. The field is located at 02:26:00-04:30:00 (J2000) and covers a 1 square degree area. The GMRT observations imaged the whole 1 square degree field with an angular resolution of 6 arcsec and an average sensitivity of about 50 microJy. The catalogue lists 514 radio sources 17 of which are fitted with multiple components.
We use deep near-IR photometry of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey and deep DECam Plane Survey (DECaPS) optical photometry to confirm the physical reality of the candidate globular cluster (GC) Minni 22, which is located in the Galactic bulge. This object, which was detected as a high density region in our maps of bulge red giants, is now confirmed as a real GC based on the optical and near-IR color-magnitude diagrams. We also recover three known fundamental mode (ab type) RR Lyrae stars within 2 arcmin of the cluster center. The presence of RR Lyrae stars also seems to confirm Minni 22 as a bonafide old and metal-poor GC. We estimate a cluster reddening E(J-Ks)=0.6mag and determine its heliocentric distance D=7.4+/-0.3kpc. The optical and near-IR color-magnitude diagrams reveal well-defined red giant branches in all cases, including a red giant branch bump at Ks=13.30+/-0.05mag. The comparison with theoretical isochrones yields a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.3+/-0.3dex, and age of t~11.2Gyr. This is a good example of a new low-luminosity (M_V_=-6.2mag) GC found in the central bulge of the Milky Way. After discussing the different ways to confirm the existence of bulge GC candidates, we find that one of the best methods is to use the CMDs from the combination of the DECaPS+VVV photometries.
